Myths abound any time the media or Democrats try to discuss gun control. Misinformation, fear mongering, and outright lies are told to the public. Every time a mass shooting happens, the Media immediately jumps on it. If the tragedy fits their narrative, then they call on various legislators to pass sweeping gun control measures. If the shooting doesn’t fit their narrative, then at best, the local news channels might mention it. Otherwise, the story is dead on arrival.

For example, the media coverage was minimal after the April San-Bernardino school shooting. The incident didn’t match the Left’s narrative. An assault weapon wasn’t used, the man wasn’t white, and it happened in California, which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation.

Much is made of mass shootings, but a key factor is that ninety-two percent of them happen in gun-free zones. This is most likely caused by a lack of protection from bad guys with guns. Naturally, the response to this is to just get rid of guns. Australia is often held up as the model for gun ban advocates. So let’s take a look at that.

A San Bernardino Police Officer Stands Ready to Serve & Protect Following The San Bernardino School Shooting. Source: ABC

Australia’s gun violence rate has remained fairly constant since the 1996 gun ban. Even the firearm death rate decline slowed. Much of the following decline can be attributed to the previous decline in the firearm death rate. Therefore, Australian style gun bans fail and the data shows it. Sources report that more than 250,000 illegal guns are in the very active black market. The mandatory buy-back program failed to secure all of the illicit firearms. With over 370 million guns in the United States, the government would be hard pressed to buy all of those firearms, let alone confiscate them. From the data given, it’s easy to see how the Australian argument fares under scrutiny. It’s a tired argument and has been refuted many times.

Now another common leftist argument is that the over 33,000 people who die every year from guns is just too many to ignore. Hillary Clinton even made it a talking point during a 2016 presidential debate. She and most other leftists ignore that two-thirds of gun deaths in the US are from suicide. So let’s be honest, a little under 12,000 people die from homicides. That excludes accidents as well. Roughly 8,000 of those are from gang violence or are drug related. Most of those committing the crimes have previous criminal records. Many of them shouldn’t have been allowed these firearms in the first place. That leaves approximately 4,000 firearm deaths. In a country with over 370 million guns. That number is less than 1 percent of 1 percent. You have a higher chance of dying in a car accident than from a gun. In reality, if you want to avoid dying by gun, don’t commit suicide and stay away from gangs. Rather than take lives, guns actually save them. Contrary to Leftist bias, guns are used 2.5 million times each year in self-defense. Countless lives are saved every year thanks to well-trained and well-armed private citizens.

Finally, the second amendment states give private citizens the constitutional right to own and bear firearms. Leftists will often claim that the second amendment doesn’t give individuals the right to own and bear arms. However, they would be mistaken. The second amendment guarantees the right of the people, not state militias, to keep and bear arms. Even if the left wishes to ban guns, they’d have to change the Constitution.

All in all, the Left’s constant refrain about gun control has wasted time and offered no effective solution to America’s many problems. As more and more Americans become accustomed to owning firearms, education about firearm safety will increase, and firearms will spread to more people, and as a result, gun control will continue to lose popularity. Self-defense has and will continue to rise in popularity among minorities and women. The gun ownership rate has risen sharply over the last decade throughout these groups. Gun control is now a losing issue for the Left.